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Proponents of MBLs take message to media

MADISON, Wis. (9/7/10)--Proponents of increased credit union member business lending (MBL), including several state credit union leagues, took their messages to the media in recent weeks. If lawmakers pass pending legislation to raise credit unions’ MBL cap to 27.5% of total assets from 12.25%, it would boost Sacramento, Calif.- area businesses, said a lengthy article in comstock’s magazine (September ) titled “Where credit’s due, lifting the lending cap on credit unions.” “We’ve been a proponent of this change since 1998,” Bob Arnould, senior vice president of government affairs for the California Credit Union League, told the magazine. “Prior to 1998, there was no cap on small-business lending. There’s an economic situation now where banks are not lending, and it is the right time to raise the cap.” Increasing the cap could add $2 billion in additional investment in California, the league told the magazine. The magazine also mentioned Travis CU, Vacaville; The Golden 1 CU, Sacramento; SAFE CU, Sacramento; and Sierra Central CU, Yuba City. To read the article, use the link. John Murphy, president of the Maine Credit Union League, said MBL received strong support from two guests on the Aug. 22 edition of Mainebiz Sunday TV Show, which focused on what to do about tight credit for small businesses in Maine and feature three guests. Guests Rosa Scarcelli, CEO of Stanford Management and a former gubernatorial candidate in Maine, and Nicole Witherbee, former federal policy analyst the Maine Center for Economic Policy and now principal owner of her own consulting business, supported raising credit union’ MBL cap (Weekly Update Sept. 3). “It was nice to receive strong support from two pretty savvy business people on a show that is watched by many small-business owners and consumers across Maine,” Murphy said. Brett Thompson, president of the Wisconsin Credit Union League, wrote a letter to the editor of The Milwaukee Business Journal (Aug. 27), in which he said most of state residents support raising credit unions’ MBL cap. “The vast majority of Wisconsin voters polled by the Wisconsin Credit Union League, 75%, say they would support an amendment that’s been proposed to the U.S. Congress to make more credit available to Wisconsin companies through credit unions,” Thompson wrote. “The measure would be a boon for small businesses with modest credit needs--the very businesses that often find it difficult to find financing. Because credit unions strive to meet their member-owners’ credit needs regardless of profit, they’ll grant smaller loans,” Thompson concluded. To read the letter, use the link.